Floyd v. City of New York

302 F.R.D. 69, 2014 WL 3765729
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 30, 2014
DocketNos. 08 Civ. 1034 (AT), 12 Civ. 2274 (AT)
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 302 F.R.D. 69 (Floyd v. City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Floyd v. City of New York, 302 F.R.D. 69, 2014 WL 3765729 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

ANALISA TORRES, District Judge:

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit remanded Floyd and Ligón to the District Court to resolve pending motions to intervene in these actions and to “effectuate a settlement” between “such concerned or interested parties as the District Court deems appropriate.” Floyd, ECF No. 426; Ligon, ECF No. 166. As a result, two motions are now before this Court.

In the first motion, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of the City of New York, Inc., the Detectives’ Endowment Association, Inc., the NYPD Captains Endowment Association, and the Lieutenants Benevolent Association of the City of New York, Inc., collectively, and the Sergeants Benevolent Association,1 separately, move to intervene as defendants pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24 for the purposes of (1) appealing three orders issued by the Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin: (a) the first, enjoining the City of New York (the “City”) from conducting trespass stops outside of certain Bronx apartment buildings without reasonable suspicion of trespass in Ligón; (b) the second, finding the City liable for violating the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the plaintiff class in Floyd; and (c) the third, ordering remedies in Floyd and Ligón; (2) participating in the settlement of Floyd and Ligón; and (3) participating in the remedial phase of the litigation. Because their motions raise identical issues, the Court addresses them together, referring to all of the proposed intervenors collectively as the “Unions” and noting variations only where relevant. The Floyd and Ligón plaintiffs are collectively referred to as “Plaintiffs.” Plaintiffs and the City oppose the Unions’ intervention.2

In the second motion, Plaintiffs and the City, having reached an agreement to resolve the City’s appeals in Floyd and Ligón, move for an order modifying the remedies order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54 and the Court’s inherent authority, such that the term of the court-appointed monitor is limited to three years, provided that the City shows substantial compliance with its obligations by the end of that term.

The motions to intervene are DENIED for three reasons: (1) the motions are untimely; (2) the Unions have no significant protectable interests relating to the subject of the litigation that would warrant intervention; and (3) even if their alleged interests were cognizable, the Unions lack standing to vindicate those interests on appeal.

The parties’ motion for an order modifying the remedies order is GRANTED. The modifications shall be set forth in a separate order to be issued forthwith. The Unions’ request to participate in the settlement of Floyd and Ligón is, therefore, DENIED as moot.

The Unions’ request to participate in the remedial phase of Floyd is also DENIED as moot because the remedies order already offers “police organizations” the opportunity to participate in the development of reforms to NYPD stop-and-frisk policies and procedures through the “Joint Remedial Process.” The Unions’ request to participate in the remedial phase of Ligón is DENIED for the same reasons the Court denies their motion to intervene for the purpose of appealing the remedies order.

[77]*77BACKGROUND

Nearly fifty years have passed since the Supreme Court of the United States endorsed the practice that became known as “stop-and-frisk.” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 30-31, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). There, the Court held that the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures is not violated when a police officer stops, questions, and frisks a suspect without probable cause if the officer has reasonable suspicion that “criminal activity may be afoot” or a reasonable belief that the person “may be armed and presently dangerous.” Id. at 30, 88 S.Ct. 1868. In the decades since, the contours of Terry’s exception to probable cause have been vigorously litigated in the courts.

In this current iteration, two sets of plaintiffs challenge the legality of the New York City Police Department’s (the “NYPD”) stop- and-frisk tactics. In Ligón, after a seven-day evidentiary hearing, on January 8, 2013, the Court issued a preliminary injunction against the City, finding that plaintiffs would likely succeed in proving that the City has a policy of stopping, frisking, and arresting persons for trespass based primarily on their presence in or near Bronx apartment buildings enrolled in the Trespass Affidavit Program (“TAP”) — which permits the NYPD to patrol private buildings with their owners’ consent — in violation of the Fourth Amendment (the “Injunction Order”). Ligon v. City of New York, 925 F.Supp.2d 478, 486 (S.D.N.Y.2013), amending and superseding, Ligon v. City of New York, 12 Civ. 2274, 2013 WL 71800 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 8, 2013). In Floyd, after years of litigation culminating in a nine-week trial, on August 12, 2013, the Court issued an opinion holding that the City had a policy of conducting race-based stops-andfi’isks that ran afoul of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments (the “Liability Order”). Floyd v. City of New York, 959 F.Supp.2d 540, 562 (S.D.N.Y.2013). Because of the similarities in the City’s constitutional violations in Floyd and Ligon, the Court issued a second opinion on August 12, 2013, which ordered certain remedial measures to cure the constitutional infirmities identified in both cases (the “Remedial Order”). Floyd v. City of New York, 959 F.Supp.2d 668, 671 (S.D.N.Y.2013).

Initially, the City appealed the Injunction, Liability, and Remedial Orders. Several weeks later, the Unions moved to intervene and also filed notices of appeal. Then, in January 2014, newly-elected Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the City’s intention to withdraw the appeals and settle the cases.3 The Unions, nevertheless, still seek intervention to prosecute the appeals the City no longer wants to pursue. The Injunction, Liability, and Remedial Orders are the product of fifteen years of litigation, against the backdrop of decades of public discourse on the issue of stop-and-frisk. Thus, because a full account of these cases would fill libraries, the Court chronicles only those facts that aid in addressing the Unions’ motions to intervene.

I. Daniels, Floyd, and Ligón

A. Daniels v. City of New York

As the Second Circuit observed, the Floyd and Ligón actions “descendí ] directly” from an earlier lawsuit, Daniels v. City of New York, 99 Civ. 1695(SAS) (S.D.N.Y.1999). See Ligon v. City of New York, 736 F.3d 118,122, 122 n. 3 (2d Cir.2013), vacated in part, 743 F.3d 362 (2d Cir.2014). On March 8, 1999, Kelvin Daniels and Robert Roe filed a putative class action against the City, the NYPD, the mayor, the police commissioner, and John Doe officers, alleging that the City had a policy, custom, and practice, carried out by the NYPD’s Street Crimes Unit,4

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
302 F.R.D. 69, 2014 WL 3765729, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/floyd-v-city-of-new-york-nysd-2014.